


Flames of Fire and Friendship

by smileynerd256



Category: Good Omens (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bookshop Fire, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-10-26 05:15:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20736809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smileynerd256/pseuds/smileynerd256
Summary: A few days after Armageddidn't, Crowley’s nightmares drag him back to the burning bookshop.





	Flames of Fire and Friendship

_ “Aziraphale! Where are you, you idiot, I can’t find you!” _

_ A shelf collapsed in a flurry of ash and flames. Water shot through and shattered a window, knocking Crowley flat on his back and sending his glasses skittering across the floor. Hell had come after him...then they must have come here. Hastur may have been trapped in his answering machine, but he wasn’t the only demon fond of hellfire. The realization slammed into his chest like a firehose of holy water. _

_ “You’ve gone…” For the first time in six thousand years he was completely, utterly, horribly alone. His eyes stung from more than just the smoke. “Somebody _ killed _ my best friend! Basssstards! All of you!” He grabbed the nearest book (his last piece of Aziraphale and even _ that _ was charred) and clutched it to his chest. _

_ The world was ending, but his world had already ended. He closed his eyes...and allowed himself to be swallowed by the flames. _

* * *

Crowley jolted awake with a strangled cry, fighting the silk sheets tangled around his limbs and falling to the floor in an undignified sprawl. He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his forehead to the cool stone, focusing on the blessed--damned--on the lack of flames.

The world didn’t end. Aziraphale was still very much alive. Heaven and Hell were too afraid to interfere with their lives at the moment. Everything was fine.

Right.

Crowley slithered back into bed and slumped against the headboard, staring into the darkness and trying to convince himself that he was okay.

In the next moment, his phone was in his hand and he’d speed-dialed Aziraphale. 

The angel picked up on the second ring. “Hello?”

He thunked his head back against the wall, limp with relief.

“Is anyone there?”

He swallowed the lump in his throat in an effort to sound normal. “Angel?”

“Crowley! Is something wrong?”

Evidently, he’d failed. “Ngk, uh, no, I just...wanted to hear your voice is all.” He scrubbed a hand across his eyes. “‘M fine.”

“You don't sound fine, what happened?”

“N-nothing, it was just…” his voice cracked and he bit back a sob as more stubborn tears rolled down his cheeks. “Just a stupid nightmare.”

Silence filled the line for a moment. “Was it about Armageddon?” asked Aziraphale, more gentle than before.

Crowley sighed and raked his fingers through his hair. “Yeah.”

“Do you...would you like me to come over?”

“I--” He was a mess. Aziraphale had never seen him like this, not really; he hadn’t been all there when he found Crowley drowning away his sorrows after the fire. He had no idea how _ wrecked _ he’d been. Crowley wiped his eyes with a wet chuckle. “I don't think our sides would like that very much.”

“Dear, you don't have a side anymore,” said Aziraphale with an audible smile. “We're on our own side.”

The corner of his mouth ticked up in fond exasperation. “It’s a joke, angel.”

“Ah. Well, I can be there in two shakes of a lamb's tail.”

“Wait, erm--”

“Yes?”

“I’ll come to you. You place is better, anyway.” And it might do him some good to see 

the bookshop. For no particular reason.

“Oh, all right. Do be careful, will you?”

“Yeah, ‘course.” 

* * *

Crowley kept a tight grip on the wheel of his Bentley, trying not to remember his phone ringing uselessly when he tried to call Aziraphale, or the rain pelting the windscreen, or the racing thoughts of _ what if I’m too late, what if Heaven or Hell got there first, what if he’s-- _

He grit his teeth and switched on the stereo.

_ “Put out the fire, put out the fire, put out the--” _

He twisted the knob nearly hard enough to wrench it from its socket, slamming his hand on the steering wheel with a grunt. He could count on one hand the number of times he considered dumping his Bentley in the nearest scrapyard. This was one of them.

The thought passed quickly and soon enough he parked haphazardly in front of the bookshop. The perfectly intact, not-burned bookshop without even a hint of smoke in the air. He snapped his fingers and walked through the front doors.

There, framed by the dim light of his desk lamp, was Aziraphale. Solid. Corporeal. Alive.

His face lit up. “Crowley! Good to see--”

Crowley threw his arms around him.

“--you.” Slowly, he returned the embrace. “Oh, Crowley, what’s got you so upset?”

He didn’t answer for the moment, just closed his eyes and breathed in the scent of dusty parchment and that new cologne and held Aziraphale a little closer. This was a first; in six millennia the most contact they’d had was holding hands (switching bodies aside, but that was...different, somehow). He was really glad Aziraphale didn’t pull away; he wasn’t sure if he could have handled that at the moment. He wanted, needed to know that his angel was okay by more than just sight and sound.

And the contact felt...nice.

He didn’t expect to start trembling. He didn’t expect a stifled sob to wrench its way from his throat, and he certainly didn’t intend for more tears to roll down his cheeks and soak into Aziraphale’s favorite coat, but his body wasn’t listening to him at the moment.

Aziraphale held him, running a hand through his tousled hair. “I’ve got you, you’re safe. I’m right here.” The blessed angel really was too good for Heaven. 

* * *

It wasn’t until he was lounging next to Aziraphale on the small couch in the back room, halfway through a bottle of wine that he spoke up.

“Was about you.”

Aziraphale raised his eyebrows over the first glass he had yet to finish. “Hmm?”

“The dream. Bookshop was burning, world was ending, you weren’t...there anymore.” He drained the glass in his hand and refilled it with a glance, avoiding the angel’s gaze. “I-I thought it was hellfire. Thought you were gone. _ Really _ gone, not just...” he waved a hand.

“Inconveniently discorporated?”

“Ngk, yeah.” He set the glass down hard. “It’s stupid, I know it’s stupid because it already happened, and you’re fine, but…” he sighed and poured another glass.

Aziraphale’s eyes widened with dawning realization. “You said you’d lost your best friend...oh, there was so much going on then, I didn’t even realize--”

“‘S fine, you were all,” he waved a hand, “ghosty. ‘Sides that, the world was ending, there wasn’t a lot of time for chit-chat.”

Aziraphale frowned, sipping from his glass. “I suppose you’re right. Still…” He shook his head, then small, slow smile crept across his face. “You really think of me as your best friend?”

Crowley stuttered a series of unintelligible noises. “‘Course I do! Who else would it be, Hastur?”

Aziraphale chuckled. “Perish the thought.” His face fell and he shifted in his seat. “I’m sorry for what I said at the bandstand.”

Crowley set down his glass, immediately sobering up.

“I didn’t mean it. We _ are _ friends, have been since...well, the Beginning. I was just afraid to say it, but, well,” he set down his glass and gently placed a hand on Crowley’s shoulder, locking eyes with him, “I count you as my nearest and dearest friend, I always will. And for the record,” his eyes took on a fierce, defiant glint that made it easy to imagine a flaming sword in his hands, “I’m not going anywhere.”

Crowley worked his jaw, glanced from Aziraphale’s hand to his face and back again. “Right.” He bobbed his head. “Good...good to know.” Slowly, almost reverently, he covered the angel’s hand with his own.

The world was still turning. Heaven and Hell were too afraid to interfere at the moment. Aziraphale was fine. They were in this together, just like they were in the beginning...just like they always would be.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! :D Comments and kudos feed my soul! :)


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